RECHARGED

Excitement about Bolts’ young coach-GM combo, but there are many challenges ahead

The same secretary greets guests at the door. The same staircase spirals to the second floor. The same rooms rest along the hallway.

Sense the atmosphere, though, and it’s clear.

Change has hit Chargers Park.

After the championship trail with General Manager A.J. Smith and coach Norv Turner turned cold, the franchise took a plunge this month into the unknown. Tom Telesco, a first-time GM, and Mike McCoy, a first-time head coach, are the 40-year-old faces to the shake-up, having signed four-year contracts.

Their arrivals come at an unsettled time in the organization.

In four year’s time, there is no telling what — or even where — this franchise will be.

At a combined 80 years, McCoy and Telesco are the youngest coach-GM tandem in the NFL. Telesco is the youngest GM in team history. McCoy is the second youngest Chargers coach behind Al Saunders, who was 39 when hired in 1986.

The average age of an NFL coach is a little more than 51 years old. Only Raiders coach Dennis Allen, 40, is younger than McCoy, the difference about five months.

“I’m feeling a lot older; that’s for sure,” said team President Dean Spanos, 62. “I think that it’s great. We have a head coach and a general manager that are 40 years old and my son (John), who’s (33) and up-and-coming. So it’s definitely a young organization that has a lot of good years ahead of it.”

There are no guarantees.

Success, however, can come young.

Colts GM Ryan Grigson proved it in 2012, turning a 2-14 mess into an 11-5 playoff berth. The 40-year-old, recently named the NFL’s Executive of the Year, had Telesco as his top assistant.

As for McCoy, Bill Cowher was 34 when he began coaching the Steelers in 1992, just as Mike Tomlin was when he followed him in 2007. Both have won Super Bowls; starting age wasn’t a deterrent.

For Telesco and McCoy, much is uncertain as they navigate the Chargers’ future. There is enough to keep them occupied in the short term, beginning with the revamping of an offensive line and piecing together a roster with 19 unrestricted free agents.

As the draft evaluation process accelerates this week at the Senior Bowl, 2015 does loom. The list of players whose contracts expire after that season include quarterback Philip Rivers, safety Eric Weddle, defensive end Corey Liuget, tight end Antonio Gates and center Nick Hardwick.

Within the Chargers organization, there is a bridge still miles away from being crossed. The immediate focus is to surround Rivers, 31, with help, so he can guide the team to immediate success.

But, down the road, the inevitable task of selecting and grooming the Chargers’ next franchise QB could define Telesco’s legacy here, much as it did his predecessor. John Spanos, the eventual head of the Chargers’ football operations, and McCoy also stand to be heavily involved.

Casting a shadow over this franchise, there is the old matter of building a new stadium.

As efforts continue in Los Angeles to construct its own site, every year, the Chargers have the option to escape from their Qualcomm Stadium lease, which runs through 2020.

Every year, so far, they’ve chosen not to exercise it.

It would have cost more than $22 million to back out in 2013. The price drops to $19.9 million in 2014 and roughly another couple million dollars each year thereafter.

The Chargers continue to explore options for a local site, still not giving up on expanding the convention center downtown.

Mark Fabiani, special counsel to Dean Spanos, is the frontman to the Charger’ stadium effort. He has spent a decade working on it.

He sees the unknown.

“I can’t ... tell you that we’re going to be doing the same thing in three years or five years that we’re doing now,” Fabiani said. “There’s no way I can honestly say that. I know that people want to hear that, and I get that all the time. ... They want to hear you say, ‘Well, we’re going to be here forever no matter what happens,’ but that’s just not an honest assessment.

“Clearly, we’re determined to be here. We’ve worked so long, so hard, spent so much money. We’re determined, but that doesn’t mean we’ll always be here because, ultimately, you have to do what it takes to keep the team financially competitive. That’s the bottom line.”

The stadium issue notwithstanding, the McCoy and Telesco hirings have brought much optimism back to this franchise and its fans. In fact, it’s probably been years since so much excitement surrounded the Chargers in January.

For this city, the franchise and its young faces, work lies ahead to make it last.